Sniffing Unix socket

Everyone knows tcpdump. This tools allows you to sniff your network traffic. But how can we sniff on a Unix socket ?

It’s easy with socat.

• Install socat :

  # apt-get install socat
  or
  # pkg_add socat
  

• Let’s say that your socket is /tmp/mysocket.sock

  • Rename your socket:

    # mv /tmp/mysocket.sock /tmp/mysocket1.sock
    

  • Launch socat:

    # socat -t100 -x -v UNIX-LISTEN:/tmp/mysocket.sock,mode=777,reuseaddr,fork UNIX-CONNECT:/tmp/mysocket1.sock
    

  • Watch your traffic 😃